For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this.
– Esther 4:14
Probably the most famous verse in the book of Esther. Who knows, Esther, whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this.
Esther 4:14 teaches us God has appointed a time a place to use us according to His purposes.
The king had decreed the annihilation of the Jews in response to work behind the scenes by Haman. Then Mordecai sends this message to Esther… who’s now queen, one of the only people… If not the only person, who could stop this decree from the king. And Mordecai says, All these details that have led to this moment. Who knows, Esther, whether or not you’ve come to this position as queen for this purpose, for such a time as this. And I love Mordecai’s faith here. He says at the beginning, “Relief and deliverance will rise from the Jews from another place if you keep silent.”
In other words, God’s purposes will be accomplished. We don’t have to fear or worry about that. But the question Mordecai is posing to ask her is… Are you going to play the part that God has given you to play? That God is inviting you to play? That God has brought you into to be a part of the accomplishment of His purposes? And as I read this, I just think about every single person listening to this right now, and I just want to encourage you.
Esther 4:14 reminds us God intentionally planned the details of our lives.
It may not be a Esther-like situation like we’re reading about here, but God has put you where you are in your life right now, amidst all the circumstances, the place you’re in right now, not by accident. You are there. We are here together in this particular time in history, and no detail of our lives is accidental. It’s all intentional which is what we’ve prayed about already according to the book of Esther.
God is sovereign over all the details of our lives, and I just want you to see the meaning and the purpose this infuses into your life right now. This is not just kind of day-by-day, monotonous living. No, you have been invited by the King of kings and the Lord of lords to be a part of the accomplishment of His purposes in the world, His purposes in the lives of people all around you. What meaning and purpose do you have today? So don’t miss it. Just say to God today, whatever you want me to do, I’m yours.
Well let’s just start to pray this. God, thank You for putting us in the time and place You’ve put each of us in, with the circumstances we’re walking through, God, even hard circumstances, which is obviously the context here in Esther 4. We trust that You’re sovereign over all these details, that You’re in control, and You have invited us today, each of us today, to be a part of the accomplishment of Your purposes in the world, Your purposes in people’s lives all around us and in our lives, so we say yes to You.
This verse calls us to obedience, right here, right now.
Lord, help us to be obedient to You today. Help us to follow You. God, help us to encourage others in You. Help us to take full advantage to fully steward the opportunities we have today in Your kingdom to share the gospel, to build up the church, to strengthen other followers of Jesus, to encourage the people around us, to love the people around us, and ultimately to play our part in the accomplishment of Your global purposes.
God, as we pray right now for unreached people we know, we know you’ve put us in a time and a place where we have more opportunities to spread the gospel to the nations than ever before in history, that no other Christians in all of history have had the technology and access to travel, and the globalization of the world and the nearness we have to the world that we have today to get the gospel to those who’ve never heard it. God, we pray, help us to steward all of these things, every detail of our lives, in the time and place You’ve put us in for Your glory to the full.
Prayer for the Nail Bedouin People
Oh God, we pray this for thousands of people groups, including the Nail Bedouin of Algeria, including this 40,000 of our people group, none of whom have even heard the gospel. God, we pray, raise up the right people near the Nail Bedouin of Algeria to spread the gospel to them or far from them, any of us, God. We pray, use our lives however You want today with the meaning and purpose that You have ordained for us and the time and place in which You have put us. We pray all this according to Your word in Esther 4:14. Help us to realize we have come to the place where we are for such a time as this. In Jesus’ name we pray.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
